Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly |
|
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Style | The Honourable Mr / Madam Speaker (in the Assembly) |
Appointer | The Monarch's representative at the behest of the Legislative Assembly |
Term length | Elected at start of each Parliament |
Inaugural holder | Sir James George Lee-Steere |
Formation | 30 December 1890 |
Deputy | The Hon. Wendy Duncan, MLA |
Website | www.parliament.wa.gov.au |
The Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly is the presiding officer in the Legislative Assembly. The office has existed since the creation of the Legislative Assembly in 1890 under the Constitution Act 1889. The current Speaker is Liberal Michael Sutherland, who has held the role since the 2013 state election.
Contents
The role of the Speaker
The Speaker must be a member of the Assembly themselves, and is elected to the position by a ballot of the members of the Assembly. It is generally a partisan position. As with the other states and territories, the Speaker continues to attend party meetings and stands at general elections as a party candidate, if they are indeed a member of a party. There is no convention that the Speaker should not be opposed in his or her constituency.
On the other hand, the Speaker is not a political figure like those in the United States. He or she does not take part in debates in the House, does not vote in the House except in the (rare) event of a tied vote, and does not speak in public on party-political issues (except at election time in his or her own constituency). He or she is expected to conduct the business of the House in an impartial manner, and generally does so. The Speaker is assisted by a member-elected Deputy Speaker, who is usually also of the governing party.
The Speaker's principal duty is to preside over the Assembly. The occupant of the Chair must maintain order in the House, uphold the Standing Orders (rules of procedure) and protect the rights of backbench members.
List of Speakers of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
Order | Speaker | Party | Term begin | Tern end | Term of office | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sir James George Lee-Steere | Ministerial | 30 December 1890 | 30 November 1903 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | 1 |
2 | Charles Harper | Opposition | 2 December 1903 | 27 July 1904 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. days | 1 |
3 | Mathieson Jacoby | Independent1 | 28 July 1904 | 27 October 1905 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
4 | Timothy Quinlan | Ministerial1 | 23 November 1905 | 8 October 1911 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
5 | Frank Troy | Labor | 1 November 1911 | 13 February 1917 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
6 | Edward Bertram Johnston | Country | 13 February 1917 | 1 March 1917 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. days | |
7 | James Gardiner | Country | 1 March 1917 | 28 June 1917 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. days | |
8 | George Taylor | Nationalist | 19 July 1917 | 23 July 1924 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
9 | Thomas Walker | Labor | 24 July 1924 | 29 July 1930 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
10 | Sydney Stubbs | Country | 30 July 1930 | 17 July 1933 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
11 | Alexander Panton | Labor | 18 July 1933 | 24 March 1938 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
12 | William Johnson | Labor | 4 August 1938 | 2 August 1939 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. days | |
13 | Joseph Sleeman | Labor | 3 August 1939 | 31 July 1947 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
14 | Charles North | Liberal | 31 July 1947 | 5 August 1953 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
15 | Aloysius Rodoreda | Labor | 6 August 1953 | 1 August 1956 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
16 | James Hegney | Labor | 2 August 1956 | 29 June 1959 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
17 | John Hearman | Liberal | 30 June 1959 | 23 March 1968 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
18 | Hugh Guthrie | Liberal | 25 July 1968 | 20 February 1971 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
19 | Merv Toms | Labor | 15 July 1971 | 8 October 1971 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. days | |
20 | Daniel Norton | Labor | 16 November 1971 | 30 March 1974 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
21 | Sir Ross Hutchinson | Liberal | 22 May 1974 | 19 February 1977 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
22 | Ian Thompson | Liberal | 24 May 1977 | 21 March 1983 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
23 | John Harman | Labor | 22 March 1983 | 8 February 1986 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
24 | Mike Barnett | Labor | 10 June 1986 | 17 June 1993 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
25 | Jim Clarko | Liberal | 17 June 1993 | 14 December 1996 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
26 | George Strickland | Liberal | 6 March 1997 | 10 February 2001 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
27 | Fred Riebeling | Labor | 1 May 2001 | 6 September 2008 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
28 | Grant Woodhams | Nationals | 6 November 2008 | 9 March 2013 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. | |
29 | Michael Sutherland | Liberal | 11 April 2013 | present | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. |
- Members of the Legislative Assembly were not officially associated with organised parties until 1904.
See also
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References
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- Speaker of the Legislative Assembly